1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method of implementing an interactive callback feature in a radio telecommunications network.
2. Description of Related Art
In existing telecommunications networks, callback features essentially monitor a busy line and when the line becomes free, a call is initiated to the calling party. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,616 to Bjorndahl (Bjorndahl), if a called mobile station (MS) is busy, an indication of this MS status is queued in the calling party's home location register (HLR). When the called MS becomes available, the calling party is notified, and the call is connected. However, Bjorndahl does not address the problem encountered in mobile networks when the delay may be extensive because the called MS is inactive for some reason. For example, the called MS may be turned off, its battery may be dead, the mobile subscriber may have roamed out of the MS's coverage area, or the MS may temporarily be in an area shielded from radio reception. In such cases, Bjorndahl and other existing solutions are limited to noting the calling party that the called party is not available, or automatically routing the call to voice mail, if the called party subscribes to voice mail.
TR45.4.1/92.09.15.04 entitled "Personal Communications Services Description, PN-3034, Revision 0" (PN-3034) discloses call management services which include an automatic callback service which calls back a calling party if a called party is busy, when the called party becomes free. However, PN-3034 does not address the problem encountered in mobile networks when the called MS is inactive for some reason, and the delay may be extensive.
There is no known solution which interactively provides the calling party with a choice of call handling options when the called MS is either busy or inactive.